Car-door-operating mechanism.



CAMPBELL.

CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 2. 19x5.

Patented May 30, 1916.

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A. CAMPBELL.

CAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLIC ATION HLED SEPT- 2, 19l5.

Patented May 30, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Zeal/(21260152; 2 Hr (e Cam 9 3y Z22 HCiSjQS-J ARGYLE CAMPBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ENTERPRISE RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAR-DOOR-OPERATING MECHANISM.

Application filed September 2, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARGYLE CAMPBELL, a

citizen of the United States, residing at lhicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in CarDoor-Operating Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in car door operating mechanism.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and eflicient door operating mechanism for hopper cars, so arranged that the longitudinally extending shaft from which the links extend to the doors is operated by a transversely extending shaft from the side of the car.

In the drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of approximately one-half of a hopper car showing my improvements in connection therewith. Fig. 2is a transverse sectional view of the car shown in Fig. 1, the left hand portion of Fig. 2 being taken substantially on the line wm of Fig. 1 and the right-hand half on the line i of Fig. 1, the hopper doors, however, being shown in end elevation. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on said section line xw, but on a larger scale than the section of Fig. 2, in order to more clearly illustrate the parts. Fig. 1 is a detail sectional view taken longitudinally of the car substantially on the line 4L4 of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a detail sectionalview taken transversely of the car, substantially on the line of Fig. 4:. Fig. 6 is a horizontal top plan view of the supporting brackets, chain winding drums and shafts, the plane coinciding substantially with that indicated by the line 6-6 of Fig. 3. And'Fig. 7 is a detail elevational view illustrating more particularly the construction and arrangement of the operating shaft locking and releasing means.

In said drawing, 10-10 denotes the side walls of a hopper car, the same having inclined end hopper sheets 1.1, the car, as shown, being provided with four longitudinally arranged hoppers, two on each side of the center sill which is composed of a pair of channels 1212, each of said hoppers being formed by end hopper sheets 13, out: I

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 30, 1916.

Serial No. 48,580.

wardly and downwardly inclined bottom hopper sheets 14, and swinging hopper doors 15 lunged along their upper edges as indicated at 16 to an angular side sill 17.

The operating mechanism for the doors comprises a longitudinally extending shaft 18 located below the built-up girder like center sill, said shaft 18 being rotatably mounted in a plurality of depending brackets 1919, having upper flanged bases 20 rlveted or otherwise secured to the lower flanges of the channels 1212. As will be understood, each of the brackets 19 has a suitable bearing 21 in which the shaft 18 is supported. Connecting each of the hopper doors 15 with the shaft 18 are link connections which, as shown in the drawing, each comprise an elongated link 22, having a hook 23 at its inner end, a short link 24 pivoted thereto, a second short link 25 pivoted to the link 24, said link 25 being pivoted at its other end as indicated at 26, to an arm 27 formed integrally with a shouldered block 28 fixed to the shaft 18. As clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 the link connections between the swinging doors on opposite sides of the center sill are so arranged that they counter balance each other, so that when the hopper doors are in closed position the shaft 18 is relieved of any tendency to rotate.

For operating the shaft 18 from the sides of the car, I provide the following arrangement: A transversely extending operating shaft 29 is mounted in brackets 30-30, secured to the channels 12 as clearly indicated in Fig. 5. At its ends the shaft 29 is mounted in bearing brackets 31 secured to the sides of the car and each end of the shaft 29 is squared as indicated at 32. Secured to each end of the shaft 29 is a ratchet wheel 33. In order to lock and release the shaft 29 from either side of the car, I have provided two shafts 3 1 and 1346 which extend from side to side of the car and have their ends mounted in suitable bearings carried by the brackets 31. At each end, the shaft 3% has secured thereto apawl or dog 135, which engages and cooperates with the corresponding adjacent ratchet wheel 33. The pawl 135 has a weighted arm 136 so that the pawl is kept normally in engagement with the ratchet wheel under the influence of gravity. On each end of the shaft 134 is secured a locking cam 13'? which engage As clearly with the weighted arms 136 of said pawls. appears from Fig. 7, the pawl and cam castings 135 and 137 are provided with squared portions as indicated at 1, 188138, said squared portions conforming in size and shape to the squared ends of the shaft 29.

The shaft 29 is round throughout the greater portions of its length and is squared where the sames passes through the bearings providecLin the brackets 30 and 31.

On these squared portions of the shaft 29 are suitable bushings which fit within the corresponding brackets 80 and 31, to thereby permit the shaft to rotate. Mounted on the squared portion 129 of the shaft 29 be tween the two brackets 3030 are two chain Winding drums 35and 36, the latter being suitably spacedapart by a spacing sleeve 37. The squared portion 129 of the shaft is provided with suitable bushings 38 in order 1 to form locked against rotation, the operator first Directly proper bearings in the brackets 30. As clearly appears from Figs. 5 and 6, the drums and 36 extend up between the channel center sills and the lower flanges thereof are cut awayas indicated at 3939 to provide the necessary clearance. By this means I am enabled to obtain a very rigid mounting for the mechanism and also to position it as high as possible without running the operating shaft through the center sill. before the drums 35 and 36, the shaft 18 has secured thereto two spaced drums 4O and 41, each of which is provided with an ofls'et flange 42 to which is secured an eye-bolt 43 by which the chains 44 and 45 are attached thereto, the chain 44 being secured at its upper end to the drum 35 and the chain 45 to the drum 36. i

The operation is as follows: Assuming the doors inclosed position and the shaft 29 movesthe locking cam 35 to inoperative position by applying his claw bar or other instrument to thesquared portion 138 thereof, Next the operator applies his claw bar to the squared portion 138' of the pawl casting and swings the pawl to inoperative position. Thereafter, the operator applies the claw bar to the squared end of the shaft 29, rotating the latterin a counter clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 7.

This winds the chain 45'around thejdrum 36, which causes the shaft 18 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, thereby releasing the doors. To close the doors, the operating shaft 29 is rotated in a clockwise direction, thereby winding the chain 44 around: the drum'35 and causing the rota tion of the shaft 18 in a clockwise direction.

As will be evident, the-operator can manipulate the -locking cams, pawls, and shaft 29 ifrom'eitherrside of the car, which is an ex tremely important consideration, particularly where the mechanism isemployed on site sides of the vonly. Another feature of my improvement is that the same instrument which is used to rotate the shaft 33, such as a claw bar, can be employed to operate the shafts 34 and 134.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that I have provided an efiicient door operating mechanism, all the parts of which are compactly arranged, and one which may be operated from either side of the car.

Iclaim:

1. In a hopper car having two sets of hinged doors on opposite sides of the center thereof, an operating mechanism for said doors including; a single longitudinally extending shaft, link connections between said shaft and all of said doors, an operating shaft extending transversely of the car and operable from the side thereof, and means for operating said longitudinal shaft from the operating shaft comprising a pair of drums on each of said shafts and flexible connections between the drums.

2. In a hopper car having a center sill and hinged hopper doors, an operating mechanism for said doors including; a longitudinally extending shaft mounted below said center sill and supported in brackets secured thereto, connections between said shaft and said doors, an operating shaft extending transversely of the car, a pair of drums on each of said shafts, and flexible connections between said drums.

3. In a car having hinged doors, an operating mechanism for said doors including; a longitudinally extending shaft, connections between said shaft and said doors, a horizontal operating shaft extending at right angles to said longitudinal shaft and located in a plane above the latter, a pair of drums on each of said shafts, a flexible connection from one drum on the longitudinal shaft to one of the drums on the operating shaft and adapted to rotate the longitudinal shaft in one direction and another flexible connection from the second drum on said longitudinal shaft to the second drum on the operating shaft and adapted to rotate the longitudinal shaft in the opposite direction.

4. In a car having a center sill and hinged hopper doors, an operating mechanism for said doors including; a plurality of bearing brackets secured to the under side of said sill, a longitudinally arranged shaft mounted in said bearing brackets, link connections between said shaft and the doors on oppocenter sill, said connections being self locked when the doors are in closed position, a transversely extending shaft, bearings secured to said center sill in which said shaft is mounted and in a plane above the longitudinal shaft, a pair of winding drums on each of said shafts, and flexible connections between said drums.

5. In a hopper car having hinged doors and a center sill, an operating mechanism for said doors including; a plurality of bearing brackets secured to the underside of said sill, a longitudinally extending shaft mounted in said brackets, connections between said shaft and the hopper doors, a transversely extending operating shaft, brackets secured to the underside of said sill in which said shaft is mounted, drums on said operating shaft mounted between the brackets thereof, drums mounted on said longitudinal shaft and chain connections between said drums.

6. In a hopper car having hopper doors, the combination with channel center sills, a

i longitudinally extending shaft located below said sills, connections between said shaft and the doors, a transversely extending operating shaft, brackets secured to said channel sills in which said operating shaft is rotatably mounted, winding drums on said longitudinal shaft, winding drums on said operating shaft, and flexible connections between said drums, the drums on said operating shaft extending up between said channel sills.

7. The combination with a hopper car having a center sill and longitudinally arranged hoppers on each side of said sill, each hopper having an outwardly swinging door, of operating mechanism for said doors comprising a longitudinally extending shaft mounted in bearing brackets beneath said center sill, link connections between said shaft and the doors and which are self locked when the doors are in closed position, a transversely extending shaft operable from the side of the car and located in a plane above said longitudinal shaft, a pair of drums mounted on said operating shaft and located partly within the center sill, a pair of drums mounted on said longitudinal shaft, and flexible connections between said pairs of drums.

8. In a car having hinged doors, an operating mechanism for said doors including, a shaft, connections from said shaft to said doors, an operating shaft substantially at right angles to the first named shaft, and flexible connections between and attached to said shafts, said flexible connections winding about one shaft in planes substantially at right angles to the planes in which they wind about the other shaft.

9. In a car having hinged doors, an operating mechanism for said doors including, a shaft, connections from said shaft to said doors, an operating shaft at right angles to the first named shaft, and flexible connections between said shafts, said flexible connections winding about one shaft in planes at right angles to the planes in which they wind about the other shaft, the portions of the flexible connections between the two shafts always extending vertically and remaining of constant lengths.

10. In a car door operating mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft extending transversely of the car from side to side, of means for locking and releasing said shaft operable from either side of the car, said means including a ratchet wheel on each end of said shaft, a pawl and a lock associated with each ratchet wheel, said pawls and locks being secured to the ends of transversely extending shafts, each of which is operatable from either side of the car.

11. In a car door operating mechanism, the combination with an operating shaft extending transversely of the car from side to side, of means for locking and releasing said shaft operable from either side of the car, said means including a ratchet wheel on each end of said shaft, a pawl and a lock associated with each ratchet wheel, said pawls and locks being secured to the ends of transversely extending shafts each of which is operatable from either side of the car, the operating shaft, the dog carrying shaft, and the lock carrying shaft being each provided with similarly shaped and sized ends whereby all of said shafts may be operated by the same tool.

12. In a door operating mechanism for dump cars, the combination with a shaft having a ratchet wheel thereon, of a pawl cooperating with said ratchet wheel and a lock cooperating with said pawl, said pawl and lock each having formed integrally therewith similar members, each member being adapted to detachably receive an operating tool whereby the same tool maybe employed to operate both the pawl and the lock.

'13. In an operating mechanism for dump car doors, the combination with an operating shaft extending transversely of the car from side to side and having ratchet wheels at each end thereof, of two other shafts extending transversely of the car from side to side thereof, one of said shafts being provided with pawls at each end thereof arranged to cooperate with said ratchet wheels, and the other of said shafts being provided with looking cams at each end thereof adapted to cooperate with said pawls, each of said pawls and locking cams being provided with an integral squared portion adapted to be operated by a claw bar or similar tool.

14. In a door operating mechanism of the character described, the combination with an operating shaft having a locking memher on the end thereof, of means cooperating with said locking member to lock the shaft in position, said means including a dog pivoted about an axis parallel with the axis 'of'said shaft and 'cooperable with said locking member, and a locking cam engageable with said, dog and'pivoted about an axis parallel to said firstnamed axes,

said shaft, dog and cam being each provided with an integral squared portion, said hinged at their upper ends at the side of the car for closing said hoppers, a longitudinal auxiliary ope atmg shaft, crank and link connectlons connecting said shaft with the doors at the side of the car for opening and closing said doors, a transverse operating shaft to be operated manually, andmeans for imparting reverse motions from said transverse shaft to said longitudinal shaft for opening and closing the doors, said means comprising a pair of wheels on said transverse shaft, a pair of wheels on said longitudinal shaft, and chains connecting the wheels on the transverse shaft with the wheels on the longitudinal shaft and so disposed that when the transverse shaft is rotated in one direction it will operate the longitudinal shaft to open the doors and when rotated in a reverse direction will impart a reverse rotation to said longitudinal shaft andfcompel the closing of the doors.

16. A car having at each side of its longitudinal center hoppers with downwardly and outwardly inclined inner sheets, doors hinged at their upper ends at the side of the car for closing said hoppers, a longitudinal auxiliary operating shaft,- crank and link connections connecting said shaft with the doors at the side of the car for opening and closing said doors, a transverse operating shaft to be operated manually, and means for imparting reverse motions from said transverse shaft to said longitudinal shaft for opening and closing the doors. said means comprising a pair of parallel wheels on said transverse shaft, a pair of parallel wheels on said longitudinal shaft standing at right angles to the wheels on the transverse shaft and below the same, and independent chains respectively con necting the wheels on the transverse shaft with the wheels on the longitudinal shaft and being so disposed that when the transverse shaft is rotated in one direction one .of the chains-will rotate the longitudinal shaft to compel the opening of the doors and when the transverse shaft is rotated in the opposite direction, the other chain will impart a reverse rotation to the longitudinal shaft and compel the closing of the doors.

17. A car having hinged discharge doors, an auxiliary operating shaft, crank and link connections connecting said shaft with the doors for opening and closing the same, a manually operative operating shaft, and means for imparting reverse motions from said operating shaft to said auxiliary shaft for opening and closing the doors, said means comprising a pair of wheels on said operating shaft, a pair of wheels on said auxiliary shaft and chains connecting the wheels on one shaft with the wheels on the other shaft and so disposed that when the operating shaft is rotated in one direction it will rotate the auxiliary shaft to open the doors and when rotated in a reverse direction will impart a reverse rotation to said auxiliary shaft and compel the closing of the doors.

18. In a car having a center sill and hinged hopper doors, an operating mechanism for said doors including; a plurality of bearing brackets secured to the under side of said sill, a longitudinally arranged shaft mounted in said bearing brackets, connections between said shafts and said doors, said connections being self-locked when the doors are in closed position, a transversely extending shaft, bearings secured to said center sill, in which said transverse shaft is mounted and in a plane above the longitudinal shaft, a pair of winding drums on each of said shafts, and flexible connections between said drums.

19. In a hopper car having hinged doors and a center sill, an operating mechanism for said doors including; a plurality of bearing brackets secured to the under side of said sill, a longitudinally extending shaft mounted in said brackets, connections between said shaft and the hopper doors, a transversely extending operating shaft, brackets secured to the under side of said sill in which said transverse shaft is mounted, drums on said transverse operating shaft located adjacent said brackets in which said transverse shaft is mounted, drums mounted on said longitudinal shaft, and chain connections between said drums.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 13th day of August 1915.

ARGYLE CAMPBELL.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner 0! Patents.

' Washington, D. 0. 

